Supporting Success: The Role of Mentorship in Increased Health Services Research Capacity

Research programs in Canada embrace mentorship as a way to increase research capacity, with experienced researchers mentoring more junior investigators. The three major research granting agencies in Canada (CIHR, SSHRC and NSERC) identify mentorship of new researchers as integral to research training. But few questions have been asked about how to make mentorship effective. For example, is an effective mentor someone who oversees career development, or provides guidance for a trainee? Dr. John Egan is evaluating how mentorship works in collaborations between university and community-based researchers. He is examining how mentors and their trainees experience mentorship, in a program jointly funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and MSFHR. This research should identify what creates successful, productive mentoring, and lead to evidence-based practices and policies for effective mentorship